The rumored release of the 2022 Toyota Tundra has truck lovers everywhere anticipating the cold hard facts. One thing we do know, however, is that the 2020 Toyota Tundra is dated. So dated, in fact, that some have even said it’s the worst truck on the market today.

The current Tundra pickup truck comes equipped with a host of standard features. But the current model Toyota Tundra is extremely long in the tooth. How will this old school model survive until the official debut of the 2022 Toyota Tundra redesign?

It’s no secret that the Toyota Tundra has been in desperate need of some major updates. Sure it comes with the Toyota standard safety suite, which is pretty competitive. It is also easily one of the best off-roading trucks you can buy in its TRD off-road trim.

But the interior feels as old as the generation, and––besides for updated infotainment––the technology lags a bit behind. Alas, the Toyota Tundra will have to struggle on until the 2022 debut of whatever Toyota has in store for its full-size truck segment. And at this point, we can only hope that the debut will be timely in the wake of all the upsets the global economy has seen in 2020.

2022 Toyota Tundra

As of this writing, Toyota has released little information as to what the new truck is going to be. We do know that Toyota has big plans for electrifying its whole lineup by 2025. With the full redesign and release of a brand new Toyota Tundra, we can reasonably expect that it will entail some type of electrified mobility.

Because of the movement in the green direction, it’s also safe to assume that Toyota will be nixing the V8 powerplant. This is pretty exciting in terms of a possible hybrid AWD system. We can be pretty sure that Toyota will always promote this truck as both a work truck and an off-roading adventure beast. So any new technology is sure to focus on maximizing efficiency without losing any of the strength needed for towing or rock crawling.

What will become of the 2020 Tundra?

The 2020 Tundra isn’t really competing well with the like of the Ford F-150 or the Ram 1500. But it hasn’t really ever had to. This Toyota pickup truck is one of those trucks that people love and buy and keep for a decade and then buy again. The only problem is that the current second generation has now been in production for well over a decade. Even that last major model refresh was half a decade ago. It’s no wonder people are saying it feels dated. A facelift only helps so much after a while.

From here until the 2022 drop, we expect to see some marketing of the current generation. If for no other reason, Toyota at least needs to make space for the all-new third generation 2022 Toyota Tundra. The biggest thing the current gen has on its proceeding generations is the V8.

This is almost definitely the end of an era in terms of Tundra V8 power. The new powertrain on the 2022 Tundra pickup will most likely use a V6 paired with hybrid battery technology. This opens up a wide door of opportunity for the Tundra to experience a little growing up. But where one door opens, another door closes tight. So Toyota’s biggest marketing ploy will now be to get your V8 fast, while you still can. And it will probably work.

The 2021 Toyota Tundra pickup truck struggle

The 2021 Tundra will get… absolutely nothing new. Well, except for fancy new ‘nightshade’ and ‘trail’ editions. 2020 and 2021 half-ton Toyota pickup truck sales are going to hit strug-mode hard until the next generation hits production. Marketing them on the V8 alone is only going to sell so many trucks. Sales for the Toyota Tundra will suffer, but we have a feeling that it will all pick right back up after that 2022 release.